The Art of Jealousy
by Luna Darkside
Summary: "Kuroba Kaito, in Hakuba Saguru's less than humble opinion, had the amazing ability to come with with extremely, extremely bad ideas. Up until now, however, Hakuba had just never quite realized how bad those ideas could be." - In which Kaito will go to any and all lengths to get one Kudou Shinichi jealous, and Hakuba is somehow dragged into it. /ShinKai, oneshot, complete/


**Warnings: **shounen-ai, possible grammar mistakes, my twisted sense of humor/sadism, Shinichi being a _painfully_ dense idiot, etc. Y'know, the usual.

**Pairings: **Shinichi x Kaito (just about reversible, because that's how I roll), Eisuke x Ran, Hakuba x Aoko, and fake Hakuba x Kaito (but some broship!Hakuba x Kaito, y'know?). Mmhm.

**Notes: **Decided to give everyone a few days of time away from me and my fluff before I posted this.

Anyway, I've had this idea stuck in my head for a long time. No, I don't know why, and yes, I do realize that it's slightly disturbing.

Well, without further ado, enjoy! – Luna

**The Art of Jealousy**

"Seriously, Ran, there's no way," protested Kudou Shinichi half-heartedly as he trailed after Mouri Ran down the department store aisle, feeling halfway lost.

"Don't be ridiculous," chided Ran from her position a few feet ahead of him, holding up a tank top to compare it against her shoulders. "Aren't you the one who always says that Sherlock Holmes line about the impossible and the improbable?" She flattened the hem of the tank top against her hips, the top falling over her hands. "What do you think? Will this work, do you think?"

"It's 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth,' and don't you have the same shirt in green?" Shinichi squinted at the shirt. Yes, he was pretty sure she had a green tank top.

Swatting at his head (he rather intelligently ducked out of the way), Ran scowled and put the shirt back. "No, Shinichi, I don't. And it's not like I can wear that for a first date."

Flinching overdramatically at the way his childhood friend's eyes instantly went starry at the mention of her first date with the newly returned Hondou Eisuke, Shinichi pointed at a random shirt a few away. "Try that one. And about what you were saying…"

Ran, who had dove for the shirt Shinichi had "suggested," eyed the new garment carefully. "This is pretty cute. Good choice, Shinichi." She patted him on the shoulder and draped the shirt across her elbow as she foraged ahead.

Shinichi followed obediently, cursing the exact moment he'd agreed to go shopping with Ran.

"Oh! You were asking about what I was saying?" Ran called back over her shoulder as she flipped through a new rack. "Well, Shinichi, I personally don't find it so strange that Kuroba-kun might be in love with you."

"And exactly _how _do you know that?" grumbled Shinichi, stuffing his hands in his pockets gruffly.

"It's a girl's intuition," answered Ran, making a face at a scarily orange blouse. Sensing that Shinichi was about to make a snide comment, she cut him off. "And it's plainly obvious to anyone when they see you two together."

"By which you mean…"

Clucking in amusement, Ran admired a ruffled white top with a contemplative expression. Hmm. White wasn't really her color, but that was fine. The shirt was perfect. She tossed it over her arm and continued browsing. "Shinichi, just for your information, most guys are able to take their eyes off of their also-male friends for at least five minutes. And most guys don't offer their said friends roses every time they meet."

"But that's just Kaito's thing!" Shinichi protested, throwing up his hands defensively.

Turning away from the shirts, Ran jabbed a finger in his face, smirking. "And most guys don't call each other by their first names, no honorifics, _nothing_," she said, smirk growing at the way Shinichi's glare intensified.

Returning to flipping through the rack, Ran continued, "Seriously, Shinichi? I don't think it's a big deal. I would definitely support your relationship."

Shinichi choked. "S-s-support our _relationship_?" he managed through a coughing fit, and Ran rolled her eyes.

"Shinichi, everything I just mentioned, save for the roses bit, _you _do to Kuroba-kun as well. It's completely obvious that you two are completely in love," she told him, pulling another shirt off the rack.

Gawking, Shinichi just stared as she cooed over the shirt and added it to the growing pile on her arm. Once he'd found his voice again and remembered how to speak, he stammered, "How – how am I supposed to even _start_ a… r-relationship with him?"

"I don't know, ask him if he's in love with anyone?" offered Ran offhandedly – she'd just found a polka-dotted shirt that she definitely was going to buy, no matter the price. "I mean, I could be wrong – but I'm probably not – and he might not be in love with you, so you might want to check before you ask him out or anything."

Shinichi considered. "That… I could do that."

"Excellent," Ran said with a bright smile. She gathered up her shirts and tossed them rather unceremoniously at a surprised Shinichi, who barely managed to catch all the flying garments. "Now carry these."

* * *

This could _not _be happening.

Kuroba Kaito stared blankly at Shinichi, who was watching him steadily from across the table. His heartbeat was hammering in his chest, and he was quite certain that time had either frozen or he had.

Judging from the fact that Azusa still moved with normal speed to greet some customers and the steam from Shinichi's coffee continued to rise, it was more likely that he had.

He cleared his very dry throat and stammered, "Uh, could you… um?" At the solitary blink that Shinichi gave, Kaito coughed. "Could you, er, repeat that?"

Shinichi sighed and took a sip of his coffee (black, thought Kaito with an internal shudder) before he set down the cup with a clink of ceramic and leveled a calm look at Kaito.

"I just wanted to know if you happened to be in love with anyone at the moment."

Okay. Right.

Because it was _totally_ normal to ask that in the same way you'd say, "Nice weather we're having, huh?"

"Uh…" Kaito debated whether Shinichi would question it if he spontaneously combusted from the embarrassment. (Probably.) He focused his gaze on a point behind Shinichi's left ear and swallowed. "Well, that's kind of a… personal question, don't you think?"

"I guess," Shinichi agreed, glancing over his left shoulder in confusion and finding nothing but the empty counter. He shot Kaito a mystified look, one that Kaito ignored. "But Ran just… said something interesting. So I wanted to know because what she said was really… I thought it was kind of… intriguing?" A slight flush was starting to sidle up his neck, and Shinichi hid his face behind his coffee cup. Kaito quirked an eyebrow in slight concern.

What exactly was _that _supposed to mean?

"I… see." Suddenly finding the rim of his cup very fascinating, Kaito shuffled through possible responses in his head. Well, he could be upfront about it and just say that he was just about completely in love with Shinichi, but that could have some repercussions, to say the least. Like Shinichi storming out of Poirot in complete disgust. Or, you know, Kaito becoming the first person to actually die of embarrassment.

By the time Kaito had run through about twelve possible reactions to him confessing, the last one involving Shinichi's coffee upended over his head, Shinichi's eyebrows were starting to creep up his forehead.

"Are you going to tell me or what?"

Letting out a very unmanly squeak, Kaito blanched. "Of course I'll tell you! I mean… that is to say, there is someone that I think, er, that I do indeed believe I may be in love with."

"Really?" Shinichi looked… what was that on his face? Surprise? Maybe even… interest?

…Hope?

_If only_, thought Kaito bitterly.

"So who is it?"

"I don't think I should tell you that?" No, that was _not _supposed to come out as a question.

A mask slid over Shinichi's face. After having his own for years and knowing Shinichi for long enough, Kaito recognized it as his "slightly hurt but pretending he doesn't care" mask and instantly felt a wave of regret.

"But –" Scrabbling to find some way to wipe that look off Shinichi's face, Kaito added, "But I can tell you that they're a detective."

He hit with simultaneous relief (Shinichi's expression brightened, and that made him about three hundred percent happier) and horror (_wait did he just give Shinichi an extremely obvious hint –?!_) as he realized what he had just admitted.

"A detective?" Shinichi repeated, and Kaito could only nod.

"Hm." The detective in question narrowed his eyes pensively. "Detectives, huh? What detectives do you know well?"

Kaito desperately wanted to scream, "You, you oblivious, dense, ridiculously attractive idiot!" but he managed to restrain himself, taking a sip of his lukewarm, sugar-saturated coffee. It wasn't going to be long until Shinichi figured it out, anyway.

A few more moments passed. Kaito's palms were growing clammier and clammier as the silence wore on –

"Um, Kaito?"

"Yes?" Kaito's head shot up. _Here we go – this is his reaction _–

"Are… are you in love with Hakuba?"

_You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding._

Something seemed to break inside Kaito's brain (seriously, why the _hell _was he in love with this idiot, again?!) and he gaped at Shinichi, who looked tentative, inquisitive, and… maybe just the slightest bit distraught.

Kaito was probably imagining it, though.

"Yes. Yes, I am _so _in love with Hakuba. He is the most _amazing _person in the universe. I love him _so _much," he agreed flatly, painfully composed.

There was a slight change in Shinichi's expression. An unidentifiable emotion, maybe shock or revulsion (though Kaito sort of wished it was _despair_, as sadistic and pathetic as that wish was), replaced the quizzical cast to his eyes.

But "Right," was all Shinichi commented. "I… hope it works out with you two. Hakuba's a lucky guy to have someone as…" He paused – and was it just Kaito or were his eyes almost _sad_? – and smiled something soft and sweet that made Kaito's head spin. "…someone as _wonderful _as you."

Kaito was reduced to a stuttering mess. "W – oh. That's…"

"Mmhm." Shinichi just nodded, smile slipping just a little askance. As he broke eye contact, took a sip from his coffee cup, and studiously avoided Kaito's gaze, Kaito had a revelation.

What if…?

* * *

Kuroba Kaito, in Hakuba Saguru's less than humble opinion, had the amazing ability to come up with extremely, extremely bad ideas.

Up until now, however, Hakuba had just never quite realized how bad those ideas could be.

"This is a really, really bad idea," he verbalized for perhaps the tenth time in the last five minutes, shifting from one foot to the other nervously. "Like… a really, really bad idea."

Kaito glanced over his shoulder at the white-faced blond detective. "Don't believe for a second that I'm exactly thrilled to be acting like I'm in love with you."

"Could've fooled me," grumbled Hakuba. The two of them were waiting for Shinichi and Ran, who had agreed to meet up with them for lunch, inside an alley beside Colombo. Why Kaito had insisted they wait in an _alley _for the detective and his childhood friend, Hakuba would never know or understand.

When Kaito had approached him and Aoko, effectively ruining their first date, and begged Hakuba to pretend to be in love with him in order to make Kudou Shinichi – yes, _that _Kudou Shinichi, the great detective slash romantically challenged idiot – _jealous_, Hakuba had been ready to mail him to Zimbabwe and be done with it.

It had been Aoko's pitying expression and her excited remarks of, "Kaito, are you finally going to make a move on Kudou-kun?" as well as her not-so-subtle glances in his direction that had led Hakuba to agree. Reluctantly.

"Have I mentioned how bad of an idea this is?" Hakuba asked tentatively, shuffling his hands across his face. God, was he sweating? Aoko better _adore_ him for this act of bravery. This was about twelve times worse than his worst nightmare, and he was going through this _for her_.

Ignoring him, Kaito suddenly drew in a sharp breath. "Ack, they're coming. Quick, step out." He shoved Hakuba out onto the sidewalk sharply, sending Hakuba staggering a couple of feet before Hakuba managed to right himself.

Without pausing, Kaito dove at him, eliciting a horrified squeak from the blond detective, and threw an arm across his shoulders.

"_Ow_, Kuroba-kun, you just hit my cheek with your hand!" Hakuba scowled, affronted, as Kudou Shinichi and his childhood friend rounded the corner.

"Shut up, Hakuba. Do you think I _want _to be doing this?!" hissed Kaito. Hakuba was extremely disconcerted when Kaito's expression suddenly morphed to one of fond irritation.

"Could you not –" he began just as Kudou and his friend stopped right in front of them.

"You're so annoying, Hakuba," Kaito muttered, shaking his head as he feigned annoyance. "Sometimes I have to wonder about you…"

Hakuba gaped at him before he managed to school his expression into a smug smirk. _Think about Aoko, think about Aoko… _"Oh, come on. You know you love me, _Kaito_."

He fought to keep from going into cardiac arrest at the horrifying thought – _dear God Aoko better love him forever for doing this._

Despite that there was a flash of horror in Kaito's eyes, the magician managed to smile back. "I guess that's true, huh?" he murmured softly.

Kudou coughed awkwardly.

Hakuba inwardly thanked him approximately five million times as he quickly broke away from Kaito, faking embarrassment at being caught. "Oh, sorry, Kudou-kun. Didn't see you there."

"I could tell," Kudou remarked calmly – not exactly angry or happy, just sort of… neutral. Hakuba, who was used to reading murderers' faces for signs of hidden emotion, couldn't even figure out what the slightly upturned lips and quiet eyes underneath unexpressive eyebrows meant.

Dammit, that meant they had to go to Stage Two.

"So do you guys want to eat?" Kaito chirped, and Hakuba nodded encouragingly at Kudou and Ran, slipping an arm around Kaito's waist. (_This _was Stage Two.) He could sense how tense Kaito was as he did so and squashed down the smug _see, this is the most awkward thing in the universe, isn't it _that popped into his head.

"Of course! That's why we're here," Ran laughed, musical and sweet, and cast a surprisingly bright smile at her childhood friend. Kaito's arm tightened painfully around Hakuba's shoulders, and Hakuba flinched and cast a glare at the magician before he caught himself and hastily pasted on a loving (tortured) smile.

"Let's go in," agreed Kudou, with an affable nod, eyes never straying to Hakuba's arm around Kaito. Hakuba resisted the urge to grind his teeth, because dear God, was he _ever_ going to crack? Did he even _like _Kaito?

Snuffing out the horrifying thought that he might be doing this for absolutely no reason, Hakuba donned a gentlemanly smile. "Why don't you go ahead, Mouri-san?" he offered, sweeping his free arm towards the door to Colombo. "Ladies first."

Ran giggled, waving a hand cheerfully. "Oh, don't worry about me. You two lovebirds go right on in," she smirked, something like amusement flickering through her eyes as she pressed a hand to Shinichi's shoulder, and Hakuba suddenly was filled with a sense of comprehension.

_Oh. _

She knew.

And from the looks of it, she was probably planning on making _Kaito _jealous as well.

"Right," managed Hakuba through a strangled smile. He guided Kaito to the door and jabbed him hard in the hip.

Kaito jumped and scowled, glaring at Hakuba. "What do you _want_?" he muttered under his breath, forcing an expression of playful anger onto his face.

"I hate you _so much right now_, just so we're clear."

"Shut up."

The waitress, whose eyebrows had shot up when Kaito and Hakuba had entered the restaurant, cleared her throat, cheeks stained red. "T-This way," she began, extending an arm to a four-seat table.

"Thank you," Kudou called from behind them, his voice _perfectly even_. Damn him. How hard was it to make him jealous? Hakuba sincerely hoped the detective would get show just the slightest bit of resentment they were forced to advance to Stage Three.

He shuddered violently at the thought, and Kaito dropped his arm from around his shoulders to jab Hakuba in the ribcage. "Quit squirming," the magician shot out of the side of his mouth as Hakuba yelped in surprise. "Act natural."

The detective stared irately at him. "_Excuse_ _me_?"

"Aw," Ran cooed from her place across the table. "Look at them, Shinichi! Aren't they _adorable_?" She latched onto Kudou's arm, leading the detective to blink blankly down at where her hands were attached to his forearm, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Clearly, Ran had not shared her make-Kaito-jealous-while-Kaito-makes-_you_-jealous agenda with him, if his expression was any indication.

Kaito, who seemed to be ready to kick Ran underneath the table, cleared his throat and flipped open the menu that the waitress had set down in front of him. "What do you want to eat, Saguru? Curry rice?" he asked sweetly, and Hakuba nearly choked on his own saliva because _did Kuroba Kaito just call him by his first name?_

"Nerphng," he said intelligently.

"Oh, Saguru," Kaito giggled (_what the hell he literally just giggled what was this, the apocalypse?!_), turning a page in the menu airily. "I know you love curry rice, but there's no need to get tongue-tied over it."

Despite the cavity-inducing quality of his voice, Hakuba could still see the horror in his eyes as Kaito turned to smile winningly at him.

Thank God for that.

"You know me too well, Kuro – K… Kaito," Hakuba grinned back, taking a quick look at Kudou's reaction. He was reading a page of the menu serenely, expression horrifically impersonal.

…In which case, it was time for Stage Three.

Hakuba wondered if he had managed to piss off some major god in his past life, because his luck was literally the worst.

"Mm… I'm not too hungry. What about you, Kaito?" Hakuba wondered lightly, leaning over to read Kaito's menu over his shoulder and completely disregarding his own.

"I'm not that hungry, either," answered Kaito in a slightly less than cheerful tone, instantly realizing where Hakuba was going with this. Hakuba's stomach churned at what awaited them. "Want to share a meal?"

Across the table, Kudou seemed to stiffen just a little (_sing hallelujah he finally reacted_)_,_ and Ran took the opportunity to drape herself over his arm distractingly. Kudou shot her an even more bewildered glance, which she returned with a smirk.

"Sure. What do you want?" Hakuba got out, pretending not to notice what was happening on the other side of the table.

"Hm… maybe yakisoba? Oyako-donburi?" Kaito shrugged easily, though Hakuba noted the tightening of his fingers on the menu in his hands.

Realization suddenly struck Hakuba that it must be pretty damn hard to see this, see the person you were in love with pretty much not caring when you were all over someone else. He wondered what he'd feel like if he saw Aoko acting completely normal while he was acting jaw-droppingly in love other girl.

"Either's fine. Whichever you like," Hakuba muttered softly, halfway pityingly, and Kaito glanced at him in mystification at the genuineness of his tone.

"Yakisoba, then," was all he said, though, and closed his menu as their waitress approached, eyes fixated shyly on the floor.

"What can I get for you?" she asked timidly, fighting to meet their eyes.

Smiling reassuringly at her, Hakuba ordered, "Kaito and I will be sharing the yakisoba, thank you," and watched ecstatically as Kudou's face contorted.

"Do you want that split onto two plates?" the girl inquired, puzzled. Her blush reappeared in full force when Kaito shook his head, grinning mischievously.

"I'd like the curry rice," Kudou cut in – not unkindly, but unexpectedly enough to warrant a raised eyebrow from Hakuba and Ran nonetheless. Blinking away her surprise, the waitress nodded, scribbling down her order as her blush receded.

"I'll have the omurice~!" sang Ran, beaming brightly as she slung an arm around an increasingly baffled Kudou's neck.

"Of course," the girl returned, hurriedly writing it down. "Drinks?"

"Water for all of us," Kudou told her, smiling gently but dismissively nonetheless. She nodded and shuffled off quickly.

There was a fairly awkward silence for a minute before Ran removed herself from Shinichi and leaned forward to smile pleasantly at Kaito and Hakuba, eyes sparkling. "So how long have you two been dating?"

Someone choked. It took Hakuba a second to realize it was him. "D-Dating? The – the two of us?"

"Of course. Who else?" Ran smirked. "How did you two confess to each other?"

Battling the very strong urge to turn, glare at Kaito, and demand that he come up with an explanation, Hakuba struggled to form a smile. "Er – we – well. This… it was, you see…" He was horrified to find that he was going red.

"Aw, look, Shinichi! Hakuba-kun's _blushing_!" squealed Ran, gripping Kudou's arm hard, and Hakuba almost blanched at that.

"Isn't he adorable?" Kaito piped, placing an arm on Hakuba's bicep. "He blushed the exact same way when I confessed." He smiled charmingly at Hakuba, who attempted to return the expression.

Kudou, who was wearing a look of extreme disinterest, flinched visibly at that and made a strangled kind of sound. "You're a lucky man, Hakuba."

"You think so, Kudou-kun?" Hakuba tried for a mock-pensive look at Kaito. Inside he was literally jumping for joy because _stoic Kudou Shinichi was finally reacting and maybe they wouldn't have to go to Stage Four._ "He's a bit of a handful if you ask me."

"That may be so, but Kaito is just… never mind." Shinichi said the last bit to his lap, avoiding Hakuba's eyes.

_And _Kaito's.

Hakuba's eyebrows rose. Well, what do you know. There may yet be hope.

* * *

By the time dessert rolled around, Kaito was wondering if there was any hope.

Shinichi hadn't reacted _at all _since he'd made that "you're a lucky man, Hakuba," comment. He was staring down at his empty plate, immensely calm. _Painfully _calm.

While Hakuba and Kaito had planned to share a plate, neither of them were quite willing to actually share chopsticks because both of them were in love with other people and had _standards_, dammit. So sharing a dish hadn't ended up being that… romantic. Just mostly squabbling over who took more yakisoba while Ran giggled at their display.

And speaking of Ran, _what was she up to_? At the moment, she was nearly in Shinichi's lap, picking out a dessert from Shinichi's menu, disregarding her own, as their waitress idled by their table with red cheeks. (Apparently she was still flustered by Hakuba and Kaito.)

"So what do you say, Shinichi? Should I get the parfait or the strawberry cake?" Ran wondered, tapping an elegant finger against the menu with a thoughtful tilt to her lips.

"Do whatever you want," Shinichi answered, rolling his eyes in slight exasperation. "Why would you even ask me that?"

Ran pouted (cutely). "You're no help at all." She ran her finger down the list of items, arm brushing Shinichi's as she did so.

It took all of Kaito's willpower not to run from the restaurant screaming about the unfairness of life and damned childhood friend advantages.

By his side, Hakuba cleared his throat, directing Kaito's attention to him. "What do you think of this?" the blond detective murmured, jabbing a finger at the chocolate sundae listed amongst the cakes and ice creams. "I know you like chocolate ice cream."

"Wow." Kaito stared at him, surprised. "Did Aoko tell you that?"

"No. I just knew," Hakuba beamed, and Kaito's eyebrows shot up.

"Wow," he repeated.

Across the table, Shinichi glanced quickly up at them, and then back down at his menu.

"Um…" their waitress prompted. "Are you ready to order…?"

"I'll just have black coffee, thank you," Shinichi told her. She nodded before glancing at Ran.

"Um… the parfait, please," the karate champion decided, slipping back into her own seat.

"And you, sir?" The waitress asked Kaito, red-faced.

"Chocolate sundae, please," he chirped, and she wrote it down.

Before she asked him, Hakuba held up a hand. "No thanks. I don't need anything."

"Okay. Your orders will be out shortly." With that, the girl turned on her heel and fled.

True to her word, the desserts were brought out within minutes, much to Kaito's surprise. He stared at the large sundae sitting in front of him, suddenly not feeling hungry. Well, today had been a failure. Shinichi was calmly adding a touch of sugar to his coffee, the picture of serenity.

"Not hungry?" Hakuba queried, and Kaito glanced at him, not bothering to hide his disappointment.

"Eh, not really."

Something in Hakuba's eyes changed – was that _pity _Kaito was seeing? – and he leaned over, picking up the spoon that had been brought with the sundae. He scooped up some of Kaito's ice cream and ate it, to Kaito's confusion.

"It's good, Kaito. Have some." The detective scooped up more ice cream and extended it to Kaito, and it all became clear.

Eeeeeeew_._

"O-Okay," Kaito choked out, and Hakuba seemed to set his jaw as he brought the spoon to Kaito's lips.

Kaito fought the urge to shrink back, because _seriously_, was his first kiss going to be an indirect kiss with _Hakuba _of all people –?

The spoon suddenly clattered out of Hakuba's hand, sending ice cream splattering across the table, and Hakuba looked up, surprise written all over his face.

Shinichi, who had batted the spoon away from Kaito at the last second, smiled very… unsmilingly at him, expression tense. "Sorry about them. Excuse me, can I talk with Kaito for a second?" Without waiting for a response, Shinichi got to his feet with a scrape of chair legs against floor, grabbed Kaito by the arm, and almost literally dragged him off to the bathroom.

The bathroom was thankfully empty, Kaito noticed as the door slammed shut behind Shinichi and he was suddenly pressed up against the bathroom wall.

Also, the bathroom wall was thankfully clean.

Kaito opened his mouth, one eyebrow raised questioningly – what exactly did Shinichi want to _do _here?

"I am so, _so _sorry about this," Shinichi apologized, his voice low and gruff before there were lips against Kaito's and he was being kissed.

It was interesting, Kaito reflected even as Shinichi's tongue slid into his mouth and he suppressed a jolt as the taste of Shinichi swept through his mouth, how this kiss was borderline _hungry_, almost – it felt as if Shinichi was trying to consume him, but not in a violent or angry or even lustful way. It was – was halfway tentative, almost as if Shinichi was trying to _understand _him, and it was so indescribably perfect that Kaito decided he could probably die happy.

As suddenly as it began, it ended, and Kaito was left panting against the bathroom wall. Shinichi was eyeing him with a mixture of remorse and self-disgust.

"W-Well," Kaito managed, blinking. "That was… interesting."

"God, I'm so sorry, Kaito." Shinichi stepped back, his eyes shadowed. "I mean – you're in love with Hakuba, and I totally just… I'm a terrible person." An expression of horror flitted across his face. "Oh my God. I'm, like, a homewrecker –"

A breathless laugh escaped Kaito. "Don't worry about that, Shinichi. Seeing as Hakuba and I are neither in love nor in a relationship."

Shinichi blinked slowly. "What?"

"Think," Kaito instructed, a somewhat senseless smile spreading across his lips. He couldn't help it. This was – he couldn't believe this was actually happening. "I just said I was in love with a detective. Not Hakuba."

"Not Hakuba?" Shinichi's brow furrowed, and he began to pace the bathroom, glowering at the floor. "That means…"

For the second time, Kaito wondered why he was in love with this unbelievably dense idiot.

"Think about it, Shinichi," he sang. "You are _what_, now?"

"I'm an amateur detective," Shinichi replied reflexively. His eyebrows flew up as he realized what he had just said, going white. "Oh. You meant – _oh. _I'm – and you –" He dropped his face into his hands. From what little Kaito could see of his face, he was flushing. "I am _such _an idiot."

"Yes." Kaito nodded. He leaned against the wall, smirking slightly. "So, y'know, if you want to kiss me again, I'd be fine with it."

Shinichi turned to face him, and Kaito couldn't help but grin widely at the embarrassed blush still prominent on his face. "I bet you would be," he grumbled, but crossed the bathroom to close the distance between them.

* * *

**I just read back through this and realized just exactly how dense I made Shinichi. Wow, that was ridiculous.**

**Well, regardless, I hope you enjoyed! Drop me a review & I'll see you around, sweethearts! - Luna**


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